Time and frequency channel estimation

ABSTRACT

A radio channel estimation technique is described for use in a OFDM-based radio communications system. A block of OFDM symbols is transmitted from multiple antennas over multiple sub-carrier frequencies. The block of OFDM symbols includes known pilot symbols as well as data symbols to be determined by a receiver. The pilot symbols are transmitted in a predetermined pattern at periodic times on periodic sub-carriers. A pilot channel estimate is determined for each pilot symbol in the received block of OFDM symbols. An  N× M matrix of points corresponding to the received OFDM symbol block is formed.  N  is the number of sub-carriers and  M  is the number of OFDM symbols in the OFDM symbol block. The matrix is formed by inserting pilot channel estimates at predetermined positions in the  N×M  matrix according to the predetermined pilot pattern and inserting zeros in remaining positions in the  N×M  matrix. A two dimensional inverse Fourier transform of the  N×M  matrix is calculated resulting in multiple copies of a channel estimate in the time domain. One is selected, and a two dimensional Fourier transform of the selected channel estimate is calculated to obtain a channel estimate at each point in the OFDM block.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority from U.S. provisional patentapplication No. 60/688,721, filed on Jun. 9, 2005, the contents of whichare incorporated here by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The technical field relates to communications, and more particularly, toestimating a channel in time and in frequency.

BACKGROUND

Receivers often employ equalizers to compensate for signal distortionsuffered during signal propagation over a channel. Most equalizationmethods include estimating the channel characteristics to determine howthe channel is distorting a signal. One way to determine that distortionis to send over the channel a signal known by the receiver. The receivercompares the received signal with the known signal, and an estimate ofthe channel can be computed. One example of a known signal is a simplepulse. In that case, the received signal is called the channel impulseresponse and corresponds to the transfer function h of the channel. Amore sophisticated known signal is a pilot signal that includes forexample a known sequence of bits or symbols. The known pilot sequence iscompared with the received sequence to determine how much and where thereceived signal differs from the known sequence. An equalizer can beviewed as filter of sorts that tries to remove the channel distortionfrom the received signal.

Orthogonal Frequency Domain Multiplexing (OFDM) pertains to a technologythat transmits multiple signals simultaneously over a wired or wirelesscommunication medium. Specifically, the data is distributed over a largenumber of sub-carriers spaced apart at precise frequencies. That spacingprovides the orthogonality needed to facilitate demodulation of eachfrequency.

Wireless-based OFDM receivers may be employed to transmit multiple datastreams over a number of parallel flat fading channels. Equalization maybe performed in the frequency domain using one-tap digital filters.Channel estimation is performed using known pilot sequences. Pilotsignals are transmitted at specific time slots and frequencysub-carriers known to the transmitter and the receiver. The channel atthese pilot time slots and frequency sub-carriers may be estimated usingpilot-assisted channel estimation techniques such as zero-forcing,minimum mean square error (MMSE), etc. The channel must also beestimated for the data transmitted at time slots and sub-carriers thatare different from those on which pilots are sent. Channel estimationfor the data may be determined using prediction methods like linearinterpolation and MMSE interpolation.

Even though it is relatively easy to implement, linear interpolationoften gives poor results in a frequency selective time-varyingenvironment. In other words, between two points where the channel isestimated based on received pilot signals, the channel may changesignificantly (not uncommon in mobile radio environments). As a result,the interpolated channel estimates between the two pilots can be quitedifferent from the actual channel at those points. Another drawback is alarge mismatch in OFDM between the estimated channels and the truechannels at the borders of the time-frequency grid.

Linear MMSE interpolation is based on a model that determines thevariation of the channel in time and frequency. For example, the timevariation in many cases follows the Jakes model (a model for Rayleighfading based on summing sinusoids), and the frequency response can bedetermined using the power delay profile. The linear MMSE interpolationmethod may be quite satisfactory if the correct model is selected. Butif there is a model mismatch, performance suffers. Another drawback ofthis linear MMSE interpolation is large memory requirements andcomputational complexity.

SUMMARY

A radio channel estimation technique is described for use in aOFDM-based radio communications system. A block of OFDM symbols istransmitted from multiple antennas. The block of OFDM symbols includesknown pilot symbols as well as data symbols to be determined by areceiver. The pilot symbols are transmitted in a predetermined patternat periodic times on periodic sub-carriers. A pilot channel estimate isdetermined for each pilot symbol in the received block of OFDM symbols.An N×M matrix of points corresponding to the received OFDM symbol blockis formed. N is the number of sub-carriers and M is the number of OFDMsymbols in the OFDM symbol block. The matrix is formed by insertingpilot channel estimates at predetermined positions in the N×M matrixaccording to the predetermined pilot pattern and inserting zeros inremaining positions in the N×M matrix. A two dimensional inverse Fouriertransform of the N×M matrix is calculated resulting in multiple copiesof a channel estimate in the time domain. One copy is selected, and atwo dimensional Fourier transform of the selected channel estimate iscalculated to obtain a channel estimate at each point in the OFDM block.Received OFDM data symbols are then equalized based on the obtainedchannel estimate.

To facilitate the radio channel estimation, the multiple antennatransmitter determines one or more known pilot symbols and a periodicpilot transmission pattern where the pilot symbols are placed atperiodic times on periodic sub-carriers. A block of OFDM symbols isformed that includes the one or more pilot symbols and data symbols inaccordance with a predetermined pattern. Certain ones of the OFDMsymbols are assigned to corresponding ones the multiple antennas so thateach antenna has an associated OFDM symbol stream. Each OFDM symbolstream is then transmitted from its corresponding antenna. The periodicpilot transmission pattern is preferably a symmetric pattern. But ifnot, the pilot transmission pattern may be transformed into a symmetricpattern where the pilot symbols are interspersed symmetrically with thedata symbols in the OFDM symbol block.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example OFDM radio communications system;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing transmitter procedures in accordance withone non-limiting example embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing receiver procedures in accordance with onenon-limiting example embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a graph showing a non-limiting example of a predeterminedsymmetric pilot pattern;

FIG. 5 shows a non-limiting example of transforming a non-symmetricpilot pattern into a symmetric pilot pattern;

FIG. 6 is a function block diagram of a non-limiting example OFDMtransmitter;

FIG. 7 is a function block diagram of a non-limiting example OFDMreceiver;

FIG. 8 is a two dimensional graph of a non-limiting example channelimpulse response versus time for a two antenna transmitter;

FIG. 9 is a three dimensional graph of a non-limiting example channelresponse graphed against sub-carrier frequency and OFDM symbol number (atwo dimensional FFT domain) for a two antenna transmitter;

FIG. 10 is a three dimensional graph of a non-limiting example channelresponse for the known pilot symbols;

FIGS. 11A-11C include a three dimensional graph of a non-limitingexample channel impulse response (IR) of the channel using the channelIR of the pilot symbols and inserting zeros in the remaining data symbolpositions, a slice of an OFDM symbol corresponding to antenna Al, andanother slice for the first the sub-carrier in the OFDM symboldimension; and

FIG. 12 is a graph showing the recovered channel estimate recovered foreach antenna by calculating a two dimensional Fourier transform of oneof the copies shown in FIG. 11.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, for purposes of explanation andnon-limitation, specific details are set forth, such as particularnodes, functional entities, techniques, protocols, standards, etc. inorder to provide an understanding of the described technology. It willbe apparent to one skilled in the art that other embodiments may bepracticed apart from the specific details disclosed below. In otherinstances, detailed descriptions of well-known methods, devices,techniques, etc. are omitted so as not to obscure the description withunnecessary detail. Individual function blocks are shown in the figures.Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the functions of thoseblocks may be implemented using individual hardware circuits, usingsoftware programs and data in conjunction with a suitably programmedmicroprocessor or general purpose computer, using applications specificintegrated circuitry (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays, one or moredigital signal processors (DSPs), etc.

FIG. 1 shows an example of radio communications system 10 which can bebased upon Orthogonal Frequency Domain Multiplexing (OFDM) an OFDMtransmitter 12 includes a pilot processor 18 for providing one or moreknown pilot sequences to a combiner 22. The transmitter 12 includesmultiple antennas A₁, A₂ . . . A_(x). Data processor 20 provides OFDMdata symbols to the combiner 12 which are combined with OFDM pilotsymbols in a predetermined pattern (described in more detail below). Thecombined signal is transformed and then processed in the radio frequency(RF) block 24 before transmission over a corresponding one of theantennas.

The antenna transmissions propagate over a radio channel 16 and arereceived at one or more antennas A₁, A₂ . . . A_(y) at an OFDM receiver14. The antenna signals are processed in an RF block 26 and converted tobaseband. The baseband signal is provided both to a channel equalizer 28for equalization and a channel estimator 30 for estimating the radiochannel 16 for a received OFDM block of symbols. The channel equalizer28 compensates for distortion caused by the radio channel 16 using theestimated channel from the channel estimator 30. If the receiver 14employs multiple receiving antennas, each antenna branch is separatelyprocessed to provide an equalized symbol stream, e.g., to a maximumratio combiner (MRC) 32. The maximum ratio combiner 32 combines thesymbol streams from each antenna typically providing a higher weightingto antenna symbol streams that have a better signal-to-interferenceratio or some other quality measure. The combined symbol stream{circumflex over (B)} is then provided to a demodulator 34, whichdemodulates the information on each OFDM sub-carrier to providedemodulated bits for further processing.

As described in the background, channel estimation may be performed forknown pilot symbols using one or more known pilot signals and any one ofwell-known pilot-assisted channel estimation techniques. But the channelmust also be estimated for the data symbols, which unlike the pilotsymbols, are not known in advance by the receiver. Performing channelestimation for the unknown data symbols in the OFDM block using aninterpolation technique is less than optimal for the reasons explainedin the background. The inventors conceived of a better, more accurate,and simpler technique for estimating the channel for the data symbolsbased on the transmission of an OFDM block using a predetermined,periodic pilot transmission pattern.

FIG. 2 illustrates example, non-limiting procedures in a “transmit”flowchart for setting up and transmitting such a periodic pilottransmission pattern. Initially, one or more known pilot symbols aredetermined in step S1. A periodic pilot transmission pattern isdetermined in step S2. FIG. 4 shows a non-limiting example predeterminedpilot pattern for a block of OFDM symbols. Each vertical columnassociated with a time slot corresponds to a single OFDM symbol having26 sub-carriers. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that thenumber of time slots and the number of sub-carriers can be any suitablenumber. The pilot symbols are positioned in the OFDM block so that theyoccur periodically both with respect to sub-carrier and with respect totime slot. In FIG. 4, a pilot is inserted every fifth sub-carrier andevery fourth time slot. The number of pilots in the frequency and timedirection depends on the maximum delay of the channel and the maximumDoppler frequency. The periodicity of the pilot in the time domainshould at be at least twice faster than the Doppler frequency in orderto satisfy the Nyquist criteria. In the frequency domain, the frequencyseparation between two pilots can be at most equal to the coherencebandwidth of the radio channel.

Returning to FIG. 2, the pilot symbols are inserted into a block of OFDMdata symbols at periodic times on periodic sub-carriers in accordancewith the periodic pilot pattern as just explained (step S3). Then,time-space coding is performed on the block of OFDM symbols so thatdifferent symbols are transmitted from different transmitter antennas atdifferent time intervals (step S4). A cyclic prefix is added to eachantenna data stream to reduce intersymbol interference at the receiver(step S5). The antenna data streams are frequency up-converted andtransmitted over the radio channel via its corresponding antenna (stepS6).

FIG. 3 illustrates a “receive” flowchart outlining example, non-limitingsteps that may be performed by the receiver 14. As explained earlier,the receiver may have one or several antennas. For each receive antenna,the received signal is down converted to baseband frequency and thecyclic prefix removed from the symbol stream (step S10). Atwo-dimensional Fourier transform (preferably a Fast Fourier Transform(FFT)) is performed on each antenna symbol stream, and the known pilotsymbols are detected (step S11). A first channel estimate is calculatedfor each detected pilot symbol (step S12).

Processing circuitry in the receiver then forms an N×M matrix of pointscorresponding to the received OFDM symbol block, where N=the number ofsub-carriers and M=the number of OFDM symbols in the OFDM block. Thematrix is formed by inserting pilot channel estimates previouslydetermined at matrix positions corresponding to the predetermined pilotpattern (step S13). Zeros are inserted in the remaining matrix positionswhich correspond to the as of yet unknown data symbols (step S14). A twodimensional inverse Fourier transform (preferably a two dimensionalInverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT)) of the N×M matrix to generatemultiple copies of a channel estimate in the time domain for thejust-received OFDM block of symbols (step S15). This produces multiplecopies of the channel estimate. The number of copies corresponds to thenumber of zeros inserted between the pilot symbols in one time slots. Inthe FIG. 4 example, there are four zeros between each pilot in each OFDMsymbol. Therefore, four copies of the channel estimate would begenerated. One of the copies of this channel estimate is selected (stepS16). The copy may be selected, for example, using a low pass filter. Atwo-dimensional FFT is then calculated for the selected channel estimateto obtain an actual channel estimate for each position in the N×M matrix(step S17). The received OFDM data symbols are then equalized based onthe obtained channel estimates (step S18).

As explained above, the predetermined pilot pattern for the OFDM blockof symbols should be symmetric. A non-limiting example of a symmetricpilot pattern is shown in FIG. 4. But if the pilots are interspersed ina block of OFDM data non-symmetrically, that OFDM block of data shouldbe transformed so that the pilot symbols are symmetrically andperiodically positioned in the block. FIG. 5 illustrates on the righthand side an example of a block of OFDM symbols in which the pilots areinterspersed non-symmetrically. That block of non-symmetric OFDM symbolsis then transformed so that the pilot symbols are symmetrically andperiodically spaced as shown on the left-side of the Figure. In order toobtain the channel estimates, the pilots should be located periodicallyin the time/frequency domain to perform the two-dimensional FFT/IFFToperations.

FIG. 6 shows one non-limiting example implementations for thetransmitter 12. As explained above, for OFDM transmission, one OFDMsymbol consists of N samples modulated onto corresponding ones of Nsub-carriers. In the example shown in FIG. 4, one OFDM symbolcorresponds to one column in the graph, where N equals, for example, 26.Each column may include 26 pilot and data symbols or more likely 26symbol samples. Block 50 performs an OFDM symbol-to-sub-carrierassignment to generate N outputs. Each column of N outputs is thenstored in block buffer 52. When a complete OFDM block has been stored inbuffer 52, the OFDM block is then provided to a two dimensional inverseFast Fourier Transformer 54. Transformer 54 generates a serial symbolstream S which is provided to space-time coder 56.

The space-time coder 56 determines which OFDM symbols are transmittedover a particular transmit antenna during a particular time slot.Consider a simplified example where one time slot corresponds totransmitting three OFDM symbols one, two, three. During a time slot,OFDM symbols one, two, and three are transmitted via the first antennaA1 in that order. During the same time slot, OFDM symbols aretransmitted over antenna A2 in a different order two, three, and one.The sequence transmitted over antenna A2 is a cyclically shifted versionof the sequence transmitted over antenna A1, where the shift is equal toone OFDM symbol. Similar to cyclic delay diversity, the cyclic shiftapplied on the transmitted data artificially modifies the radio channelwhile making the data sequence transparent at the receiver. Each antennasymbol stream S1 and S2 is provided to a respective add cyclic prefixblock 58 which outputs a modified symbol of stream S1′ and S2′ to afrequency up converter block 60 for converting the baseband signal toradio frequency and transmission over the associated antenna A1 or A2.

FIG. 7 shows a non-limiting example receiver 14 that includes oneantenna A1. The received signal is down-converted from RF to baseband indown-converter 70. The cyclic prefix is removed in block 72. Then anOFDM block of symbols of size N×M is formed. A two-dimensional FastFourier Transform 74 is applied to the OFDM block that is provided to achannel estimator 78. The channel estimator 78 performs the channelestimation procedures outlined, for example, in FIG. 3. The receivedOFDM data symbols are then equalized by channel equalizer 76 inaccordance with the actual channel estimate. The equalized signal isthen provided to baseband processor 80 for further baseband processing.

An example channel estimation for a two antenna transmitter and a oneantenna receiver is now explained in conjunction with the FIGS. 8-11.FIG. 8 illustrates the actual channel impulse response h for each of thetwo transmit antennas A1 and A2. For purposes of explanation andsimplification, the channel impulse response can be viewed ascorresponding to the channel estimate. The channel impulse response forantenna A1 is indicated with a circle, and the channel impulse responsefor antenna A2 is indicated with a square.

FIG. 9 illustrates the channel response in both the frequency and timedomains for both antennas. The channel response must be shown in threedimensions to illustrate the multiple sub-carriers for each OFDM symbolsas well as the multiple OFDM symbols in an OFDM block. FIG. 10illustrates the channel response at the pilot symbol positions.

Recall from the example predetermined pilot pattern shown in FIG. 4 thatcertain symbol samples in each OFDM column symbol correspond to knownpilot symbols. For example, FIG. 10 illustrates the channel response forindividual pilot symbols—OFDM symbol No. 1 and OFDM symbol No. 9. Thechannel response at each pilot symbol can then be compared with theknown pilot symbol to determine an estimate of the channel at that pilotposition. Only the channel response values for the known pilot positionsare maintained in the OFDM block because the channel responses are notknown for the data symbol positions. As a result, zeros are inserted inthese data positions by taking a two dimensional IFFT of this modifiedOFDM block.

The 2D-IFFT results are illustrated in FIGS. 11A-11C. FIG. 11A showsthat the channel impulse response is periodic producing a number ofcopies of the channel impulse response corresponding to the number ofzeroes inserted between two adjacent pilots. Only one copy of thechannel is required to obtain the final channel estimate. The copy maybe selected using a low pass filter which selects the first portion ofthe data and ignore the sub-sequent repeated versions of it. FIG. 11Billustrates a “slice” of the first of the OFDM symbols (corresponding toAntenna A1) taken from the three dimensional channel impulse responseshown in FIG. 11A. The channel impulse response for each antenna isperiodic with the periodicity corresponding to the number of zerosinserted between the sub-carrier frequencies (15 for this example). FIG.11C is another slice of the first sub-carrier frequency dimension whichcorresponds to all the OFDM symbols. The channel impulse response forall antennas (A2 and A1) is periodic, with the period determined by thenumber of zeros inserted between the OFDM symbols (7 for this example).

A two-dimensional FFT is then performed on the selected copy and resultsin the channel impulse response for both antennas in the time domain asillustrated in FIG. 12. Comparison between FIG. 12 and FIG. 8 revealsthat the two graphs are the same. Thus, the above technique estimatesthe channel for all points of the OFDM symbol block without performingthe linear interpolation between the pilot symbols. Because FIGS. 8 and12 match identically, the accuracy of this technique is readilyapparent.

The above description may be supported mathematically. Let B be a blockof coded OFDM symbols of size N×M at the input of the 2D-IFFT block inFIG. 6. The output of the 2D-IFFT is denoted by S. The signal S is thensubject to linear operations and transmitted on a number of antennasA_(x) as explained earlier, i.e., the columns of S are selected in acyclic fashion and transmitted onto the physical antennas. Let s=[s₁ s₂. . . s_(M)], where s_(k) corresponds to the kth OFDM symbol of S. LetY=[y₁ y₂ . . . y_(M)] be the received signal at the receiver, e.g., amobile station, where y_(k) corresponds to the kth received OFDM symbol.As demonstrated below, a 2D-FFT of Y is given by:{tilde over (Y)}=√{square root over (NM)}{tilde over (H)}·{tilde over(S)}=√{square root over (NM)}{tilde over (H)}·B   (1)where {tilde over (H)} and {tilde over (S)}, denote the 2-DimensionalFast Fourier Transforms (FFTs) of the channel matrix H and the block ofdata S, respectively, and B is the block of OFDM symbols. The term{tilde over (H)}·{tilde over (S)} denotes the element-wisemultiplication of {tilde over (H)} and {tilde over (S)}. Because theknown pilots are equally placed in frequency (and time) in {tilde over(S)}, and because the number of pilots is greater than the length of thechannel impulse response (IR) and number of transmit antennas so thatthe Nyquist criteria in frequency and time are satisfied, the columnsand rows of H are completely recoverable from the pilot samples. See,for example, Oppenheim et al, Discrete-Time Signal Processing, p. 558,Prentice Hall, second edition, 1999.

This can be demonstrated in the following example. Assume N is equal to4, M is equal to 2, and two transmit antennas A1 and A2 are used. B is ablock of OFDM symbols of size 4×2 corresponding to:$B = {\begin{bmatrix}1 & {- 1} \\1 & {- 1} \\{- 1} & 1 \\{- 1} & {- 1}\end{bmatrix}.}$Then S, the 2-dimensional IFFT of the block of symbols B, is equal to:$S = {\left\lbrack {s_{1}\quad s_{2}} \right\rbrack = {{\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\begin{bmatrix}{- 1} & 1 \\i & {2 + i} \\1 & {- 1} \\{- i} & {2 - i}\end{bmatrix}}.}}$Assume that the channel matrix H includes the following randomlyselected values: $H = {{\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\begin{bmatrix}6 & 2 \\8 & 2 \\9 & {- 10} \\{- 10} & {- 7}\end{bmatrix}}.}$The first and the second columns of H correspond to the channel impulseresponse from the first and the second transmit antennas, respectively.

At the first transmission time instant t₁, OFDM symbol s₁ is transmittedfrom the transmit antenna A1, and OFDM symbol s₂ is transmitted fromtransmit antenna A2. At the next transmission time instant t₂, OFDMsymbol s₂ is transmitted from transmission antenna A1 and OFDM symbol s₁is transmitted from antenna A2. At the receiver, the received signalcorresponding to the first and second OFDM symbols can be written as:${y_{1} = {{{H_{1}s_{1}} + {H_{2}s_{2}\quad{and}\quad y_{2}}} = {{H_{1}s_{2}} + {H_{2}s_{1}}}}},{{{where}\quad H_{1}} = {{\begin{bmatrix}6 & {- 10} & 9 & 8 \\8 & 6 & {- 10} & 9 \\9 & 8 & 6 & {- 10} \\{- 10} & 9 & 8 & 6\end{bmatrix}\quad{and}\quad H_{2}} = \quad\left\lbrack \quad\begin{matrix}2 & {- 7} & {- 10} & 2 \\2 & 2 & {- 7} & {- 10} \\{- 10} & 2 & 2 & {- 7} \\{- 7} & {- 10} & 2 & 2\end{matrix} \right\rbrack}}$channel matrices corresponding to channel impulse responses h₁ and h₂,respectively, (again the values for H₁ and H₂ are selected randomly forthis example). Replacing the channel matrices and the transmit OFDMsymbols by their respective values, the received signals at the receiverare given ${{{by}\quad y_{1}} = {{{\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\begin{bmatrix}{5 - {27i}} \\{{- 25} + {9i}} \\{{- 25} + {27i}} \\{{- 7} - {9i}}\end{bmatrix}}\quad{and}\quad y_{2}} = {{\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\begin{bmatrix}{{- 19} - {27i}} \\{39 + {9i}} \\{11 + {27i}} \\{21 - {9i}}\end{bmatrix}}.}}}\quad$The 2-D FFT of Y=[y₁ y₂] produces $\overset{\sim}{Y} = {\begin{bmatrix}0 & {- 26} \\{9 - {27i}} & {15 + {9i}} \\{- 14} & 20 \\{{- 9} - {27i}} & {15 - {9i}}\end{bmatrix}.}$Working from equation (1) above, and given that the 2-D FFT of H is${\overset{\sim}{H} = {\frac{1}{2\sqrt{2}}\begin{bmatrix}0 & 26 \\{9 - {27i}} & {{- 15} - {9i}} \\14 & 20 \\{{+ 9} + {27i}} & {{- 15} + {9i}}\end{bmatrix}}},{\sqrt{NM} = {\sqrt{8} = {2\sqrt{2}}}},{{{and}\quad B} = \begin{bmatrix}1 & {- 1} \\1 & {- 1} \\{- 1} & 1 \\{- 1} & {- 1}\end{bmatrix}},$the product √{square root over (NM)}{tilde over (H)}·B is:${\sqrt{NM}{\overset{\sim}{H} \cdot B}} = {{2\sqrt{2}{{\frac{1}{{2\sqrt{2}}\quad}\begin{bmatrix}0 & 26 \\{9 - {27i}} & {{- 15} - {9i}} \\14 & 20 \\{{+ 9} + {27i}} & {{- 15} + {9i}}\end{bmatrix}} \cdot \begin{bmatrix}1 & {- 1} \\1 & {- 1} \\{- 1} & 1 \\{- 1} & {- 1}\end{bmatrix}}} = \begin{bmatrix}0 & {- 26} \\{9 - {27i}} & {15 + {9i}} \\{- 14} & 20 \\{{- 9} - {27i}} & {15 - {9i}}\end{bmatrix}}$which is identical to {tilde over (Y)} noted above. The above examplecan be easily shown to hold for any value of N and M.

The above-described channel estimation technique has many advantages.Conventional MIMO OFDM technology requires transmission of significant“overhead” information which reduces throughput. In the approachdescribed above, there is no need to associate a unique pilot to eachtransmit antenna. Nor does the receiver need to know the number oftransmit antennas. So neither piece of overhead information needs to besent over the wireless channel. Another advantage is that the channel isaccurately estimated at the borders of the time-frequency grid.Moreover, and in contrast to channel estimation techniques like linearMMSE, the present channel estimation approach needs only relativelysmall amounts of memory and is substantially less computationallycomplex.

Although various embodiments have been shown and described in detail,the claims are not limited to any particular embodiment or example. Noneof the above description should be read as implying that any particularelement, step, range, or function is essential such that it must beincluded in the claims scope. The scope of patented subject matter isdefined only by the claims. The extent of legal protection is defined bythe words recited in the allowed claims and their equivalents. No claimis intended to invoke paragraph 6 of 35 USC §112 unless the words “meansfor” are used.

1. A method for estimating a radio channel in a OFDM-based radio communications system, comprising: receiving at a receiver a block of OFDM symbols transmitted from multiple antennas over multiple sub-carrier frequencies, where the block of OFDM symbols includes known pilot symbols and data symbols to be determined by the receiver and the pilot symbols are transmitted in a predetermined pattern at periodic times on periodic sub-carriers; processing the received block of OFDM symbols to determine a pilot channel estimate for each pilot symbol; forming an N×M matrix of points corresponding to the received OFDM symbol block, where N is the number of sub-carriers and M is the number of OFDM symbols in the OFDM symbol block, including inserting the pilot channel estimates at predetermined positions in the N×M matrix according to the predetermined pilot pattern and inserting a zero in remaining positions in the N×M matrix; calculating a two dimensional inverse Fourier transform of the N×M matrix resulting in multiple copies of a channel estimate in the time domain; selecting one of the copies of the channel estimate; and calculating a two dimensional Fourier transform of the selected channel estimate to obtain a channel estimate for each position in the N×M matrix.
 2. The method in claim 1, further comprising: equalizing received OFDM data symbols based on the obtained channel estimate.
 3. The method in claim 1, wherein the channel estimates for the pilot symbols are determined using zero forcing equalization.
 4. The method in claim 1, wherein the channel estimates for the pilot symbols are determined using a linear mean minimum squared error (MMSE) technique.
 5. The method in claim 1, wherein the predetermined pattern is a symmetric pattern.
 6. The method in claim 1, wherein the one selected copy of the channel estimate is selected using a two-dimensional low pass filter.
 7. The method in claim 1, wherein the receiver receives the block of OFDM symbols over one or more antennas.
 8. A method for use in a transmitter having multiple antennas in a OFDM-based radio communications system, comprising: determining one or more known pilot symbols; determining a periodic pilot transmission pattern; forming a block of OFDM symbols that includes the one or more pilot symbols and data symbols in accordance with a predetermined pattern; assigning certain ones of the OFDM symbols to a corresponding one the multiple antennas so that each antenna has an associated OFDM symbol stream; and transmitting each OFDM symbol stream from its corresponding antenna.
 9. The method in claim 8, further comprising: prior to transmitting, adding a cyclic prefix to each OFDM symbol stream.
 10. The method in claim 8, wherein the predetermined pattern is a symmetric pattern.
 11. The method in claim 8, wherein the predetermined pattern is not symmetric, the method further comprises: transforming the predetermined pattern into a symmetric pattern where the pilot symbols are interspersed symmetrically with the data symbols in the OFDM symbol block.
 12. The method in claim 8, wherein the predetermined pattern is such that the pilot symbols are transmitted at periodic times on periodic sub-carriers.
 13. Apparatus for estimating a radio channel in a OFDM-based radio communications system, comprising: a receiver for receiving a block of OFDM symbols transmitted from multiple antennas over multiple sub-carrier frequencies, where the block of OFDM symbols includes known pilot symbols and data symbols to be determined by the receiver and the pilot symbols are transmitted in a predetermined pattern at periodic times on periodic sub-carriers; a channel estimator for processing the received block of OFDM symbols to determine a pilot channel estimate for each pilot symbol; a processor for forming an N×M matrix of points corresponding to the received block of OFDM symbols, where N is the number of sub-carriers and M is the number of OFDM symbols in the block of OFDM symbols, by inserting the pilot channel estimates at predetermined positions in the N×M matrix according to the predetermined pilot pattern and inserting a zero in remaining positions in the N×M matrix; first transform circuitry for calculating a two dimensional inverse Fourier transform of the N×M matrix resulting in multiple copies of a channel estimate in the time domain; a selector for selecting one of the copies of the channel estimate; and second transform circuitry for calculating a two dimensional Fourier transform of the selected channel estimate to obtain a channel estimate for each position in the N×M matrix.
 14. The apparatus in claim 13, further comprising: an equalizer for equalizing received OFDM data symbols based on the obtained channel estimate.
 15. The apparatus in claim 13, wherein the channel estimator is configured to determine the channel estimates for the pilot symbols using zero forcing equalization.
 16. The apparatus in claim 13, wherein the channel estimator is configured to determine the channel estimates for the pilot symbols using a linear mean minimum squared error (MMSE) technique.
 17. The apparatus in claim 13, wherein the predetermined pattern is a symmetric pattern.
 18. The apparatus in claim 13, wherein the selector is a two-dimensional low pass filter.
 19. The apparatus in claim 13, wherein the receiver includes one or more antennas.
 20. Apparatus for use in a transmitter in a OFDM-based radio communications system, comprising: multiple antennas; electronic circuitry configured to: determine one or more known pilot symbols; determine a periodic pilot transmission pattern; form a block of OFDM symbols that includes the one or more pilot symbols and data symbols in accordance with a predetermined pattern; assign certain ones of the OFDM symbols to a corresponding one the multiple antennas so that each antenna has an associated OFDM symbol stream; and a transmitter, coupled to the electronic circuitry, for transmitting each OFDM symbol stream from its corresponding antenna.
 21. The apparatus in claim 20, wherein the electronic circuitry is configured to add a cyclic prefix to each OFDM symbol stream prior to transmission.
 22. The apparatus in claim 20, wherein the predetermined pattern is a symmetric pattern.
 23. The apparatus in claim 20, wherein when the predetermined pattern is not symmetric, the electronic circuitry is configured to transform the predetermined pattern into a symmetric pattern where the pilot symbols are interspersed symmetrically with the data symbols in the OFDM symbol block.
 24. The apparatus in claim 20, wherein the predetermined pattern is such that the pilot symbols are transmitted at periodic times on periodic sub-carriers. 